In the dark tower at the top A single light, dull glowing red The tower is darker than the night The lower buildings round the edge Cluster in shadow from the red The hunting waver of an owl Behind the avenue of dead trees Wakens a movement in the sedge And slithering through the hidden [...]
All posts in category Gothic
Sleeping
Back today to posting poems I haven’t posted before – so getting gradually nearer the present day. The first two lines of this one came to me as I was driving from Maldon to Colchester by a B road and I fashioned the rest of it while driving, with much mental repetition to try to [...]
Posted by simon7banks on March 28, 2012
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/sleeping/
I think because I am not
Descartes’ “I think, therefore I am” (“je pense, donc je suis”; “cogito, ergo sum”) is probably the most famous sentence ever written by a philosopher. Of course he meant it as a proof of his existence, but it’s very easy to adapt it to become a statement about the goal or rationale of human existence: [...]
Posted by simon7banks on March 8, 2012
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/i-think-because-i-am-not/
Alchemy
Wandering the world, the witch brings cold Where there is light she snuffs it out Her wings obscure the distant stars Her breath fills palaces with gold The kings and courtiers count and plan The heavy castles rise and spread They dance a new and heady tune, The merchant and the artisan. [...]
Posted by simon7banks on March 7, 2012
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/alchemy/
In the Wind
In the dawn a strange ship in the bay Bearing no flag. The rain came earlier this year The old brook flowed for the first time anyone remembers Except the old widow who died on the way to see it. I did not mention to you the dream I had last night for fear it [...]
Posted by simon7banks on February 1, 2012
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/in-the-wind/
Shadowlands
CROFT Here between the tumbled stones was the door: Tired men passed seeking warmth, hot broth or a spade Woman with a sickly baby in hope The occasional visitor for a dram and stories. Now the tourist wanders inside The wet wind flails without a whimper. SOLDIERS They eat a little [...]
Posted by simon7banks on January 30, 2012
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/shadowlands/
Three
THREE Three sisters dancing hand in hand They turn and whirl each in her world At different speeds disturb the leaves Which dancing from the forest floor Reject the empire of the wind Three sisters dancing hands apart They look at nothing but the leaves If one begins to glow with fire If [...]
Posted by simon7banks on December 26, 2011
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/three/
Home Visit
While the tradition of Halloween is long-established in Britain’s myths as a time to be feared because the parallel world of elves and spirits could invade the human world, marking the day in a jokey way by children going door to door in scary masks engaging in “trick or treat” is an American tradition that [...]
Posted by simon7banks on December 16, 2011
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/home-visit/
Weymouth Bay
WEYMOUTH BAY The moonlight over the sea in a narrow, shimmering dark-speckled band Links the horizon with the stony beach To the left the town lights strung along the esplanade In yellow and red do not shift Being precise, defined; round the dark sea are the sounds of a town night A drunken argument, [...]
Posted by simon7banks on December 4, 2011
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/weymouth-bay/
The Sallow
THE SALLOW On a branch of the sallow I have hung a sign So you will see. I still wait Though the tree’s long gone The marsh is drained.
Posted by simon7banks on November 24, 2011
http://simonsworlds13.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/the-sallow/
